1701: Captain Kidd walks the plank
At London's Execution Dock, British
privateer Captain Kidd is hanged for
piracy and murder. Commissioned by the British
crown in 1695 to apprehend pirates in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, Kidd apparently turned to piracy himself in 1697. His first major prize came in 1698 when he captured the Quedagh Merchant, an English-captained vessel loaded with gold and other valuables. Denounced as a pirate, he sailed to New York to profess his innocence, but was arrested and taken to London. He was tried on five charges of piracy and one charge of murdering a crewman. Important evidence was suppressed at the trial, and some observers questioned whether the evidence was sufficient for a guilty
verdict. Convicted on all counts, he was executed in London. In later years, a colorful legend grew up around the story of William Kidd, including reports of lost buried treasure that fortune seekers have pursued for centuries.
1995
In England, 12 members of a Royal
British Legion tour party on a day trip are killed when their coach plunges down an embankment on the M4 near the Severn Bridge.
1992
In
Italy, the assassination of Judge Giovanni Falcone - a senior anti-Mafia prosecutor.
1977
South Moluccan terrorists hold 105 schoolchildren and 50 others hostage after hi-jacking a train in the Netherlands. The children are released on May 27th - and the siege ends on June 11 when the train is stormed by Dutch police.1960
Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion announces that his country's agents in
Argentina have found and captured
Nazi war criminal
Adolf Eichmann. 1949
The
German Federal Republic (West Germany) formally comes into existence with Bonn as its capital.
1945
Nazi leader
Heinrich Himmler, the German Minister of the Interior and Reichsfuhrer-SS, commits suicide - a day after being captured. Learn more in our
SS Microsite.
1944
British and American forces launch a massive offensive from the beach-head at Anzio in Italy.1931
Opening of Whipsnade Zoo in Bedford, England.1915
In a decisive point in the early
Great War, Italy declares war on Austro-Hungary.
1887
French
crown jewels go on sale and raise six million francs.
1788
South Carolina becomes the 8th state of
the Union. 1706
Britain, Holland and
Germany defeat the French at the Battle of Ramillies during the War of the Spanish Succession.
1533
To the irritation of the Pope, the English Archbishop of Canterbury
Thomas Cranmer declares Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon to be void and his marriage to
Anne Boleyn, legal. This is an important step in legitimising Henry's religious pretentions.
1498
Extremist
Italian political and religious reformer
Girolamo Savonarola, dictator of Florence, is simultaneously hanged and burnt at the stake.
1430
In
France, Joan of Arc is captured by Burgundian troops and handed over to the English.
1951
Russian world chess champion Anatoli Karpov.1943
Australian tennis player John Newcombe.1933
English actress Joan Collins. Films include The Stud and The Bitch. Later stars in the American TV series Dynasty.1921
English jazz musician Humphrey Lyttleton.1908
American physicist John Bardeen.1901
British composer Edward Rubbra.1883
American
actor Douglas Fairbanks Snr - born Douglas Elton Ullman.
1734
Austrian physician Franz Mesmer - his work on the power of suggestion to help cure illness leads to the discovery of mesmerism and hypnosis.1996
English
actor Patrick Cargill aged 77.
1986
American actor Sterling Hayden.1945
Nazi leader
Heinrich Himmler, the
German Minister of the Interior, commits suicide - a day after being captured.
1941
English motor manufacturer Lord Herbert Austin.1937
American oil millionaire John Rockefeller aged 97.1701
English seaman Captain Kidd is executed for
piracy after a trial at the
Old Bailey criminal court in London.
